San Diego

San Diego is a city on a bay beside the Mexican border, with Balboa Park and its zoo, the USS Midway museum ship at Navy Pier and Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. Cabrillo counted 769,336 recreation visits in 2025, and the state historic park in Old Town says it receives between 3 and 4 million visitors a year.

The sights below are grouped by area, with the prices and hours their own sites print; the state around them is on our page about California.

We checked the figures on 30 October 2026 on the pages of the airport, PRONTO, the National Park Service, California State Parks, the city's lifeguards and treasurer, and NOAA. We also read Balboa Park's, the Zoo's and the Midway's own sites. The websites of MTS, US Customs and Border Protection and the city of Coronado did not answer our reads. So this page gives no trolley timetable, no border-crossing hours and nothing on Coronado's beaches.

How do Route 992 and the free Flyer link the airport to downtown?

MTS Route 992 is the bus from San Diego International Airport to downtown, and it stops at both Terminals 1 and 2. Since 6 September 2026 it has run every 15 minutes until the end of service, the airport's news says. Its two pages give different closing times, so we print none.

The bus is wheelchair accessible and reaches downtown at the Broadway and Kettner stop. From there the Blue Line and Orange Line trolleys leave from Santa Fe Depot, America Plaza and Courthouse stations, and the Green Line runs one block east. The airport says plainly that the trolley does not stop at the airport.

The San Diego Flyer is the airport's free, all-electric shuttle to Old Town Transit Center. It runs every 20 to 30 minutes, seven days a week, from 4:45 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. on the airport page we read. At Old Town you change to the trolley, the COASTER or Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner. Old Town Transit Center has no overnight parking.

Taxis and rideshare cars leave from the Transportation Plazas in front of both terminals, where staff stand under a blue umbrella. The airport prints no fare for either. Between 12:30 and 5 a.m., Route 910 runs between the border and downtown every 30 minutes.

What does a trolley ride to San Ysidro cost with PRONTO or a bank card?

A trolley or regional bus ride costs $3 one way, with free transfers for two hours, on PRONTO's rider's guide dated October 2026. PRONTO is the fare system of MTS and the North County Transit District. A PRONTO card or app caps an adult at $7 a day; a contactless bank card pays the same $3 a ride but never caps.

The PRONTO card costs $2, and a card bought at a ticket machine must be loaded with at least $3. Day passes cannot be bought in advance, except on the COASTER. Instead, PRONTO counts your taps and stops charging once you reach the day's maximum. The airport's FAQ still quotes a $5 day pass, but that page was last changed in August 2025, before the guide.

Contactless cards work at the validators on buses and station platforms, not at ticket machines, and each rider needs their own card. Tap before boarding the trolley, since riding without a tap may bring a citation. Cash on a bus gives no change and no transfer.

Children aged 5 and under ride free. Riders aged 18 and under ride free with a Youth PRONTO card. The documents that card asks for are Californian, and the guide does not say whether a visiting child qualifies. Seniors aged 65 and over pay $1.50 a ride, and a passport is among the documents accepted for that card.

The Blue Line runs towards San Ysidro from America Plaza, the airport's FAQ says. Santa Fe Depot to the San Ysidro port of entry is about 17.6 miles and 23 minutes by road on our own routing. MTS's own website did not answer, so we give no trolley journey time, frequency or last train.

US Customs and Border Protection runs the San Ysidro port. Federal rules require every foreign visitor seeking admission at a port of entry to present the documents required, in person to an immigration officer. So walking back from Mexico means carrying your passport and your US visa or ESTA record; our page on ESTA explained covers the second. The CBP website refused our reads, so we give no crossing hours or wait times, and nothing about Tijuana.

Which areas does a first visit cover, from the bay to La Jolla?

A first visit falls into six areas: the downtown waterfront, Balboa Park with the Zoo, Old Town, Point Loma, La Jolla and Coronado across the bay. No official page we read suggests a number of days. The USS Midway alone asks for at least 4 or 5 hours, by the museum's own advice.

All distances in the table are our own routing. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park sits next to Old Town Transit Center, where the trolley, the COASTER and buses stop. Old Town became a state historic park in 1968, and five of its adobes have been restored, California State Parks says.

The park's visitor centre and some of its museums open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the museums close on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The park's page lists no entry fee. Its lots at 4002 Wallace Street are free for up to four hours.

Old Town's Día de los Muertos event runs free from Saturday 31 October to Monday 2 November 2026. It opens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Saturday and Sunday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the Monday. A candlelit procession starts at 6 p.m. on 2 November.

Coronado is 15 minutes across the bay on Flagship's ferries, from Broadway Pier or from the Convention Center. A one-way fare costs $9 for anyone aged 4 and over, and the company sells only one-way tickets. The Convention Center boat leaves every 30 minutes and the Broadway Pier boat every 60, and bikes travel aboard when there is space. Flagship's route page mixes several timetables, so we print no sailing times.

No official page we read ranks neighbourhoods for a stay, and we name no hotels. On the transport facts alone, the Broadway and Kettner stop is where Route 992 meets the Blue and Orange lines. Old Town Transit Center is where the free Flyer meets the trolley, the COASTER and the Surfliner.

What is free in Balboa Park, and who gets the free Tuesdays?

Balboa Park charges no admission, has no gates, and its grounds are open 24 hours a day, by its own visitor site. The Botanical Building and Lily Pond, open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Timken Museum of Art are always free. The International Cottages put on free lawn programmes at weekends.

The park's resident free days are not for visitors. On each of the first four Tuesdays of a month, some museums give free general admission to residents of the City and County of San Diego and to active military. Residents must show a photo ID with their address.

The city's own Balboa page shortens this to one free Tuesday a month and leaves out the residents-only condition. The park's page is the specific one, and on it a visitor from abroad pays.

The two official pages disagree on the park's size. Balboa Park's site gives 1,200 acres and 17 museums and cultural institutions; the city's page says more than 1,000 acres and 15 museums. The Explorer Pass covers 4 museums for one day or 16 for seven days. It excludes the Zoo, the Comic-Con Museum and the performing arts venues, and neither page we read printed its price.

Parking in Balboa Park has been paid since 5 January 2026, at rates the city sets. Charges apply from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except on nine named holidays including Thanksgiving and Christmas. You pay at meter kiosks; the cheaper resident rate needs advance registration.

A free tram leaves Inspiration Point every 10 to 15 minutes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and makes five stops. The Visitors Center at 1549 El Prado runs a general walking tour on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 a.m. It needs no booking, and a $5 donation is suggested.

How much is a day at the Zoo with the Skyfari and the bus tour?

A one-day pass to the San Diego Zoo costs $78 for an adult aged 12 and over and $68 for a child aged 3 to 11, on the Zoo's ticket page. It includes the guided bus tour and the Skyfari aerial tram, subject to availability, and needs no reservation. On some days, bought online in advance, the same pass costs $73 and $63.

The Zoo covers 100 acres at 2920 Zoo Drive, inside Balboa Park. Its lot has charged $16 a car a day since 5 January 2026, first come, first served. On some days a free shuttle runs from the Inspiration Point lot, a mile to the south.

The ticket page gives no separate price for visitors from abroad, and the Zoo is not on Balboa Park's Explorer Pass. When we read the Zoo's hours page, it printed no hours for November, so check them before you go.

How long does a visit aboard the USS Midway take?

The USS Midway Museum suggests at least 4 or 5 hours on board, and same-day re-entry is allowed. The ship is moored at 910 North Harbor Drive, alongside Navy Pier, about half a mile from Santa Fe Depot by our own routing.

Admission includes a self-guided audio tour. The museum opens daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last admission at 4 p.m., and closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Bags are checked, and outside food, glass and bicycles are not allowed. The reduced veterans' price is for US veterans only.

Parking on Navy Pier costs $20 for up to six hours and $25 for longer. A building on the pier is being demolished, and the museum says the ship and the lot remain open during the work.

When do Cabrillo's tidepools close, and is it on the $100 list?

The tidepools at Cabrillo National Monument close at 4:30 p.m., half an hour before the main gate shuts at 5 p.m. The monument opens daily at 9 a.m. and closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Its Bayside and Oceanside trails close at 4 p.m.; the visitor centre opens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and to 5 p.m. at weekends.

Cabrillo is not on the 2026 list of 11 parks that add $100 for each visitor from abroad aged 16 or over. The fee covers both the tidepools and the lighthouse and statue areas, and the Park Service prefers credit or debit cards. Its fee-free days are for US citizens and residents only. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains the surcharge list.

MTS Route 84 reaches the visitor centre hourly on weekdays, the Park Service says, but not the tidepool area. Weekend service is not stated. Drivers pass a Navy gate on the way and should slow down there when it is staffed.

The Park Service warns that the cliffs are unstable, that the tidepool rocks are very slippery and that rattlesnakes may be present. Swimming, surfing and diving are prohibited, and so is smoking, vaping included. There is no phone signal at the tidepools. Whale-watching season at Cabrillo runs from late December to mid-March. On 30 October 2026 the monument's alerts carried no current item.

Which parts of La Jolla's shore are closed to protect the seals?

Point La Jolla, the rocks where the sea lions rest, is closed to the public all year, and violators can be cited. The city council moved it from a seasonal to a year-round closure in September 2023. Sea lion pupping there usually runs from early May to October, the city says.

Children's Pool, the beach where harbour seals haul out, closes every year from 15 December to 15 May for the pupping season. La Jolla Cove itself stays open. The city's own slides of December 2025 put it plainly: "The Cove Is Not Closed".

La Jolla Cove is a very small beach between sandstone cliffs, with a permanent lifeguard station, used by swimmers, snorkellers and divers. It lies inside an underwater ecological reserve, where fishing and taking anything away are prohibited.

The city's signs warn that seals and sea lions can bite and that harassing them is against the law. Its rangers repeat the National Marine Fisheries Service's advice to stay at least 50 yards away. Disturbing the animals may also breach the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The city lifeguards' safety advice applies along the whole shore. Never turn your back to the ocean, and stay clear of the bluffs, which can collapse. Caught in a rip current, swim sideways until free. The emergency number on the city's pages is 911.

What do the 7.75% sales tax and the zoned hotel tax add to a stay?

The sales tax in San Diego is 7.75% from 1 October 2026, by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and Coronado charges the same. Several neighbours charge 8.75%, among them Chula Vista, National City, Imperial Beach and Del Mar.

A $20.00 meal therefore comes to $21.55 before the tip, by our arithmetic. Shelf and menu prices leave the tax out, as our guide to sales tax in the USA explains, and the tip is covered in tipping in the USA.

The city's hotel tax has been charged in three zones since 1 May 2025, at 11.75%, 12.75% or 13.75%, by the city treasurer's page. Before that date the rate was 10.50%. It applies to stays of less than a month, short-term rentals included.

Lodgings with 70 or more rooms also owe a 2.00% tourism marketing assessment. The operator may pass it on to the guest as a separate line on the bill. The city finds a hotel's zone on an interactive map, which we could not read, so we cannot say which neighbourhood falls in which zone.

How much warmer is inland Miramar than the bay in summer?

Miramar, the inland weather station, averages 82°F in August against 77°F at Lindbergh Field, the airport station on the bay, on NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals. Miramar counts 20.4 days a year at 90°F or more, and Lindbergh Field 3.0.

August is the warmest month at the airport, a tenth of a degree above September. Lindbergh Field gets 9.79 inches of rain a year, mostly from November to March, and February is the wettest month at 2.20 inches. From June to September each month gets under 0.2 inches. Winter nights at Miramar run 3 to 4°F cooler than by the bay. NOAA prints no snow normal for either station.

The city is on Pacific time. Clocks went back an hour on Sunday 1 November 2026 at 2 a.m., from UTC−7 to UTC−8. The ferries, the Zoo and Old Town's events of that day run on the new time.

How far are Joshua Tree and the Channel Islands boats by road?

Joshua Tree National Park is 175 miles northeast of the city, on a Park Service directions page last updated in 2019. Our own routing measures about 144 miles and about 3 hours to the Joshua Tree Visitor Center. The two figures may measure to different points, so plan on the Park Service's.

Joshua Tree charges $30 for a private vehicle. On 30 October 2026 its alerts listed Geology Tour Road as closed from 12 October to 30 November 2026. The West Side Loop trail was partly closed from 12 October to 7 November 2026.

Channel Islands National Park can be reached only by boat, from Ventura Harbor or Channel Islands Harbor. The Park Service prints no distance from San Diego. The drive to Ventura takes nearly four hours each way by our own routing, and the boats leave in the morning. So a day trip does not fit; stay a night near the harbour. Yosemite, at 8 hours by the park's own figures, is not a day trip either.

Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner runs 13 daily round trips between the city and Los Angeles, Amtrak says, from Santa Fe Depot and Old Town. No Surfliner trains run anywhere between the city and San Luis Obispo on 7 and 8 November 2026, and no buses replace them. A new timetable takes effect on 1 November 2026.

The COASTER, a commuter train, runs north to Oceanside for $6.50 one way by bank card. Downtown to Los Angeles City Hall is about 121 miles and 2 hours 24 minutes by road on our own routing.